OK, so it does sound a little strange to list the star of such films as "The Italian Job," "Boogie Nights" and "The Perfect Storm" as a comedian. But that's just what's called for in "I Heart Huckabees," the outlandish David O. Russell comedy.

In "Huckabees," the 33-year-old actor is cast as Tommy Corn, a firefighter who, in the wake of Sept. 11, has decided to take stock of his life.

Tommy sees the great tragedy of that day as being largely a result of oil dictatorships. And he sees the United States as having been complicit with those dictatorships. So, vowing to cut down on his use of oil, he refuses to ride the gas-guzzling firetruck to fires.

Instead, he takes his bicycle.

"I didn't go in trying to make people laugh," says Wahlberg, who was in Toronto for the 29th Toronto International Film Festival, in which Huckabees is featured. "I just approached it like any other role that I've played. Just to believe in it and try to make it as real as possible. And if there's humor because of the writing or the absurdity of it all, then great."

The only reason Wahlberg got this crack at comedy is that director Russell, a close friend with whom he'd made "Three Kings," had an intuition about his range.

"I knew that he had never made a comedy," says the director, "and I knew that he had whole sides to him, including a very spiritual side and a very funny side, that had never been in a picture before."

"'I Heart Huckabees' isn't your typical comedy. Lily Tomlin, who plays an "existential detective," has said, "in some ways, it's a classic farce, but it also deals with the wacky human condition."

Whatever it is, Wahlberg thinks of his work on the film as special.

"Here is this extremely complex maze that he (Russell) has created to entertain and to force you to question certain things," he says.

Wahlberg explains that he acts in "normal" movies in order to be able to make eccentric ones such as this. And, he adds, after making a movie such as "Huckabees" or "Three Kings," it's not always easy to go back to the other kind.

"You've got to be out there and active and making movies to get these ones done," he reflects. "At the end of the day, it's a business, and I'm OK with that. It was either this or driving a tow truck."

Although Wahlberg clearly relishes his stint as a movie comedian, his favorite actors always have been the ones he describes as "guys' guys." He quickly ticks off his list:

James Cagney. John Garfield. Gene Hackman. Robert De Niro. Robert Ryan. Edward G. Robinson. Steve McQueen.

"It's hard to watch the movies that they're making today when the leading man is better-looking than the girl he's starring opposite," he complains. *